The twenty-five year reign of Emperor Kanmu was perhaps the peak of Japanese Imperial power. His reign marked a period of openness – the Emperor’s own mother was of Korean heritage, while he sponsored diplomatic expeditions to China – and of great stability in the Empire. However, there was one persistent thorn in his side. The Emishi, known as the ‘shrimp-eating Barbarians’, were an ethnic group in northern Japan who resisted the influence of the Kyoto Imperial Court. To deal with this problem, Kanmu introduced the role of sei-i taishōgun, ‘Great General subduing the Barbarians’. Shortened to shōgun, the creation of this position set into motion events that would all but end the power, though not the authority, of the Japanese Emperor. The power of the shōgun soon eclipsed that of the Emperor, who became something of a figurehead. This enabled the gradual feudalisation of Japanese culture, bringing to power the daimyō, powerful Japanese lords whose role evolved from the local military governorships. Alongside the figures of shōgun and daimyō, a new class of military nobility grew up. These were the samurai. Often equated with European knights, the samurai were in fact wrought into every part of Japanese society. The samurai code of conduct (bushido) became a significant part of Japanese culture, the ultimate ideal for the Japanese gentleman. The values of honour, respect, frugality, loyalty, mastering of skills, bravery and loyalty have become so engrained in Japanese society as to be considered part of the national moral character.

One of the prescriptions required of samurai was the wearing of two swords, daishō, literally ‘large and small’. Each Japanese sword (nihontō) has a different function. The smaller of the two, the tantō, was a single- or double-edged flat-bladed dagger, designed primarily for stabbing or piercing. At around 30 cm (11 1/2 in), the tantō was designed for close-quarters combat, and was used by especially skilled martial artists, thought it was also carried by women for self-defence. Later, the tantō was replaced as the smaller blade by the waikizashi. Up to 60 cm (23 5/8 in) in length, the waikizashi was a much more versatile weapon than the tantō. Used since the Fifteenth Century AD, the waikizashi was designed for close-quarters combat, the beheading of the defeated enemy, and, occasionally, for committing seppuku, ritualised self-disembowelling conducted by shamed samurai. The larger sword in the pair was the katana, literally ‘one-sided blade’. Made of folded steel in an elaborate and highly-guarded technique, katana were some of the most formidable blades in history. Slightly curved, the blade was created in a unique style, with a flat or blunt edge, a ridge-line, and the faceted and viciously sharp bladed side (shinogi-zukuei style). The katana was a multipurpose weapon, able to slash and pierce.

Katana were produced in huge numbers during the chaotic Sengoku Period (AD 1467 – AD 1603), when more than three hundred daimyō competed for dominance. The ensuing Edo Period, also known as the Tokugawa Shogunate, ushered in some two hundred and fifty years of peace. In the absence of constant warfare, Japanese swordsmiths encountered a reduced market for their wares. Many diversified into the production of agricultural tools and other metalwork to make up for the shortfall. The role of the katana moved from practical to largely ceremonial. In the Eighteenth Century AD, swordsmith Suishinshi Masahide criticised the ‘new swords’ (shintō) for privileging decoration over function. He began a movement to return the katana to the heights achieved in the Kamakura Shogunate, and swords produced after him became known as the ‘new new swords’ (shishintō). This revival coincided with a period of decline in the Tokugawa Shogunate. The arrival of American soldier-adventurer Matthew Perry in AD 1853 propagated chaos among the Japanese, and various shishi (political activists), divided into the pro-Tokugawa (sabaku) and anti-Tokugawa (sonnō jōi) factions, competed for power. Their violent clashes saw a resurgence in the use of the katana. Eventually, Emperor Meiji (AD 1863 – AD 1912) restored centralised power, abolishing the role of shōgun, and began a modernisation of Japan which involved disbanding the feudal system, and ending the power of the samurai. The wearing of swords in public was banned by the Haitōrei Edict of AD 1876, with exceptions for former daimyō, policemen, and military officers. Interest in swords would not be revived until the militarist expansionist policy of Emperor Hirohito from AD 1926.

This remarkable sword comes from the period of the shishintō, the new new swords of the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century AD. The blade, of toughened steel, is less curved than earlier katana, an innovation adopted at the end of the Edo Period to enable easier fighting in confined spaces. With a prominent ridge-line, the sword demonstrates the height of the shinogi-zukuei style. The sword is beautifully balanced between handle and blade, reflecting the skill of the swordsmith. On one side of the blade, above the hand-guard (tsuba), has the name of a maker, and the other a date in the Sixteenth Century AD. Both are apocryphal, and perhaps represent an attempt by either a shishi political activist, or a supporter of Emperor Meiji to recall a time before the Shogunate. The real maker’s name is probably on the tang, the flat extension of the blade which sits hidden under the present handle. The handle consists of the grip itself (tsuka), a collar separating the grip from the guard (fuchi), and a cap on to protect the pommel end of the handle (ksashira). The sword is presented with its sheath, koshirae, made of lacquered wood, with a decorative accent (shitodomē) in Japanese bronze (sentoku), with an engraved dragon-and-clouds motif on one side. The grip and scabbard are both made of vibrant lacquered wood in imitation of sharkskin leather (same-kawa), a common material of earlier swords. The absence on the handle of menuka, pegs which secured it to the tang of the sword, and of tsuka-make, the silk or leather wrapping for the handle, to prevent it slipping from one’s grip in battle, suggest that this sword was created for ceremonial rather than practical purposes. It is probable, then, that this was worn by a former daimyo during the Meiji Era, as a mark of status, rather than being branded as an offensive weapon.